10 Mind Blowing Science Facts You And Your Friends Didn’t Know About

Have you ever wondered what the weight of a cloud is? Have you ever wondered what those flashes of light are you see when you rub your eyes? Well, worry no more and we have all the answers you need. Today, we’ll be discussing some really interesting science facts that you didn’t know about.

Advertisement

Many of these facts will blow your mind while others will leave you in awe. You can even use these facts to stir up a conversation with new people or impress your friends as these are things not everyone knows about but would be really interested to know.

1Humans can detect magnetic fields

Yes, humans could have detected magnetic fields but unfortunately for us, our brains cannot understand that information. But how is this possible, you must be asking? This is the result of the protein cryptochrome which is present in our eyes. Our body contains two types of cryptochromes, they are CRY and CRY2. They both are involved in controlling our body clock but CRY2 has other uses.

Advertisement

Image Source: discovermagazine.com

2What is CRY2?

Lauren Foley who works at the University of Massachusetts has said that CRY2 works as a magnetic sensor. CRY2 was introduced to the retinas of Drosophila flies. After this, they were able to be trained to detect magnetic fields and travel in a specific direction. The problem that humans face is our brains cannot understand the information.

Image Source: visioneyeinstitute.com.au

3The weight of an average cloud

If you look at the sky and see clouds, how much do you think they weigh? They float high in the sky so naturally they must weigh nothing but in fact, the white fluffy clouds we see weigh 0.5 gram per cubic meter. We use the shadow of a cloud to measure its width. According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the average clouds are around one billion cubic meters which makes the weight be around 1.1 million pounds or 500 million grams.

Advertisement

Image Source: pinterest.com

4What does this mean?

So how can you imagine 500 million grams or around 1.1 million pounds? It’s simple; it is equivalent to 33 apatosauruses, 100 elephants or 2,500 donkeys. The normal white fluffy clouds are known as cumulus clouds. Storm clouds, on the other hand, have a higher density and can weigh as much as 105.8 million pounds and a normal North American hurricane can weigh as much as 108 billion pounds.

Image Source: theconversation.com

5Which came first? Egg or chicken?

This question has plagued us for ages, what came first? The egg or the chicken. Many believe that single-celled organisms evolved into becoming an egg from which the modern chicken emerged but recent discoveries have reported that a chicken like animal laid eggs from which the chickens we know today emerged. Neil DeGrasse Tyson said it the best, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg? The egg – laid by a bird that was not a chicken”.